More than 3,000 pieces of allegedly stolen jewelry are currently being held in a downtown LAPD evidence locker, and may include items taken from Malibu homes.
By McKenzie Jackson / Special to The Malibu Times
When Deirdre Roney returned to her Big Rock neighborhood home after an evening out with her husband in September of 2009, she found the interior of her house in disarray.
Thieves had snuck through an open window while she was out with her husband, John Cadarette, and made off with more than $80,000 worth of property, including jewelry and her wedding dress.
Fast-forward almost three years later. Roney, an activist, artist and philanthropist who has lived in Malibu since 1987, now says she has identified three items stolen from her home that fall night, and believes that Malibu residents who were victims of home break-ins before 2011 have a chance to find some of their stolen items with just the click of a mouse.
Roney, a former prosecutor with the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office for four years, said that in June a friend emailed her a link to the Los Angeles Police Department’s website that showed hundreds of pictures of allegedly stolen property confiscated during investigations by the police into the so-called “knock-knock” burglars, a group of gangs that got their name because they would knock on the front door of a house to find out if anyone was home. The thieves are believed to have hit homes from Santa Barbara to San Diego.
After looking through the pictures, Roney said she was able to identify an antique bracelet and two pairs of earrings that belonged to her.
“I was relieved and gratified that the police had done this police work,” she said.
When contacted by a reporter, one of the detectives working on the case, William Dunn, said he could not comment, citing an ongoing investigation. In another email, LAPD spokesperson Karen Rayner said she spoke with the detective on the case, and “he said at this time he is not at liberty to discuss the case as it has yet to go to be filed with the courts. Perhaps at a later date.”
The merchandise the police have pictured on Photobucket.com includes watches, rings, necklaces and bracelets. The website includes 139 pages of allegedly stolen items, totaling 3,335 necklaces, rings, earpieces and other jewelry items police found during their investigations into the knock-knock burglars.
Roney said in the last 10 years at least 10 homes in Big Rock have been burgled, and the robberies could all be by the same people.
“If my house was hit by the knock-knock burglars, chances are the others in my neighborhood were, and chances are anyone else in Malibu may have been victims,” Roney said. “There are 3,000 pieces of jewelry waiting for people to say, ‘That’s mine.’”
After viewing the pictures, burglary victims who believe they have seen items that were stolen from them can download and fill out a “Jewelry Affidavit.” The document asks people to insert information about the crime such as the date, city and police report number. The form and any other supporting documents must be faxed, emailed or mailed to Detective Dunn at the LAPD West Valley Area, Burglary Table in Reseda. The fax number is 818.374.7735, and the email address is 27764@lapd.lacity.org. The mailing address is 19020 Vanowen Street, Reseda, CA 91335.
Roney said home burglary victims in Malibu and other Southern California areas need to take the time to look at the pictures because they might find something that once belonged to them.
“Please take the time to click on the website and look through these things,” Roney said. “There are so many wedding rings it is heartbreaking.”